Style Media’s Salaam Coleman Smith Tapped for ABC Family Role

BURBANK: ABC Family has appointed Salaam Coleman Smith, former president of Style Media, as the network's new executive VP of strategy and programming.

Coleman Smith will work under Tom Ascheim, the president of ABC Family. Her duties include overseeing long-term growth strategies and opportunities for the channel, including key business and creative partnerships and multiplatform content expansion. She will manage strategy, new business development, program planning and acquisitions on all platforms. She will also collaborate with the Disney-ABC Television Group leadership team to evaluate and formulate new initiatives for ABC Family.

Most recently, Coleman Smith was the president of strategic initiatives for NBCUniversal's cable entertainment group. Before that, she spent a half decade as president of Style Media. She first joined Comcast in 2003 as the senior VP of programming for E! Entertainment and Style Network. Earlier in her career, Coleman Smith served as MTV Networks' VP of programming for Nickelodeon and Nick at Nite.

Ascheim remarked: "Salaam is an all-around great executive and a great person who will bring new insights and ideas to our team as we ready ourselves for substantial growth in today’s complex marketplace. She also has extensive experience in building businesses and brands, connecting with audiences, and growing revenue that will maximize our opportunities for success. I'm thrilled she is joining our team."

Coleman Smith added: "I am a huge fan of ABC Family. It's a top five cable network with a proven track record of delivering compelling and emotionally-riveting content to a large and loyal audience of young, enthusiastic, digitally savvy viewers. I am excited about Tom's transformative vision for growing this business, and I look forward to partnering with him and the ABC Family team to engage this audience in new and exciting ways."